[Travis’s POV]"What will you do, nephew?" Davison called as I continued to look from Chris to Trinity.What would I do? That was a ridiculous question. I would kill all of them with my bare hands. Surging forward, I began to shift, drawing on all my alpha abilities for the fight that was about to take place.In the past, I trained with Chris and Trinity. I was well aware that both were formidable opponents, and now that they were rogue, it was obvious they were going to be much stronger since when a wolf went rogue, their innate abilities were intensified threefold.As I continued to rush forward, Davison took a seat and let a disgusting look of amusement flash across his face."Go on then." He barked, motioning for Chris and Trinity to attack. "Don’t disappointment me.""Of course not." Chris beamed, flashing his already extended canines. "I’ve waited a long time to deal with this bastard."Letting out a snarl of excitement, Chris moved, staying in his human form. That was fine. He
[Travis’s POV]When we arrived back at the pack house, all was calm, almost as if the skirmish we faced earlier on never happened. Above, the sun was beginning to rise, spilling many hues of red across the ground."The pack should be waking up soon." Kim murmured from beside me. "We should probably get Marissa in before anyone sees her like this."Nodding, I strengthened my hold on the struggling wolf I was still carrying.Once inside the building, I beelined for the holding cells. Though I didn’t like the idea of having to lock Marissa up, it was the only option until we could get her back to herself. When that happened, I would beg and plead for her forgiveness."Daddy?"Shit, slowly turning, I took in a sleepy Kayden being chased by a flustered Max."Kayden?" I murmured, "why are you awake so early?""Mommy," Kayden said, ignoring my question. "What do?""Your mommy is..." I began trying to figure out a good way to explain this to a two-year-old."You hurt her!" Kayden growled, rus
[Marissa’s POV]"Sleep tight." I whispered, making my way out of Kayden’s room and into the hallway beyond. "Now where is he?"Sniffing the air, I let Travis’s scent of musk and cologne begin to envelope me before shaking off the daze that was threatening to come. I couldn’t let myself soften if I wanted to be able to do what I planned.Sucking in a breath, I made my way towards the living room, where he sat with a beer dangling between his fingers. As soon as he heard my approach, he turned his gaze towards me."Is he sleeping?" Travis asked, taking a swig of his drink."For now, yeah.""He hates me now, huh?"Frowning, I took a few tentative steps forward as I continued to take in Travis’s forlorn expression. Feeling a pang of pain, I tried to remember my reasons for what I was about to do, but seeing Travis like this was painful, more painful than I thought it would be."You came to tell me you want to leave, right?" Travis continued while I remained silent. "Nothing I do is going
[Travis’s POV]I stared down into Marissa’s darkening gaze, feeling myself getting lost in the oceans that were her eyes. Oh goddess, how was it possible for one person to be so damn alluring? It wasn’t fair, and it made the thought of losing her that much harder."I don’t hear any protests." I smirked, leaning in closer so that our bodies melted together like they could become one. "Does that mean that I can continue?""You…" Marissa whimpered, shivering. "Aren’t fair.""Fair?" I repeated, "as if you’ve been fair since you came crashing into my world.""I…don’t know what…you mean." Marissa rasped as I let my hands begin to travel up her shirt."You don’t?" I repeated, lifting my gaze to meet hers. "Since the day we met, you’ve been doing nothing but running away from me. Even now you’re trying to do it. "Instead of responding, Marissa simply furrowed her brows and frowned, as if she was trying to remember our time together."Don’t push too hard, baby." I whispered. "Even if you neve
[Travis’s POV]"Now, are you up for a bit of travel today?" I asked, realizing that I managed to make Marissa uncomfortable with my proclamation of love."Travel?" She repeated, seeming to perk up."That’s right."Since finding Marissa again, I had kept her to myself. However, I was sure there were two people that were dying to see her again. Maybe meeting with her parents would trigger some of her memories. I could hope, right?"Where?""It’s a surprise."I waited as Marissa’s expression turned from one of hesitance to one of curiosity, and when she gave a small nod and slowly began to get up from her place on my lap, I knew that she was on board."Come on, we should at least go shower and change before waking Kayden." I announced, slowly standing."Why does Kayden have to come?"I felt a pang of pain as Marissa’s mask of distrust began to rise into place again. After fighting so hard two years ago to get rid of it, seeing it on her again hurt like hell."Didn’t you say you trusted m
[Marissa’s POV]"Would you like something to drink?" My mother asked, snapping me out of my daze. "Coffee or tea?""Tea." I responded, trying to force a smile."Alright."I watched as my mother disappeared from the room, leaving just me, Travis, Kayden, and my father. No one spoke; it had been like this since we entered the house. After Melanie stormed up to her room, we were left to sit in awkwardness.I snapped my gaze away from the space where my mother disappeared and continued to take in the room around me. Pictures of me with both my parents were scattered across the walls, but where they were beaming in each and every photo, I found that my smile didn’t reach my eyes. Did it mean that we didn’t have the best of relationships? Was that why I was feeling so uncomfortable right now?"Grandpa," Kayden tried, finally breaking the silence. "Grandpa."At Kayden’s words, my father’s face seemed to soften and his eyes began to sparkle. I guess he wasn’t some stoic person and was capable
[Travis’s POV]I kept my gaze fixed on Ken as he processed what I had just told him. I wasn’t sure if he was oblivious to Davison’s treachery, but he was well aware of Gregory’s. Or had they already forgotten Marissa’s confession about the past?"You were told two years ago about what Marissa suffered thanks to Gregory." I continued as neither Bex nor Ken spoke. "Did you take that confession as a bluff?"Frowning, I tried to control the anger I was feeling. With the shift In Ken’s expression, I knew that he either did or Gregory and Melanie had managed to convince them otherwise."What confession?" Ken suddenly asked, sending a wave of shock through me. "I don’t know what you’re referring to, Travis.""What?" I sputtered, "Is your memory bad or something? Marissa told you that Gregory tried to take advantage of her when they were younger. How could you forget something like that?"At my words, another burst of sobs escaped Bex as she clung even tighter to Marissa. What the hell was go
[Marissa’s POV]Two hurt eyes bore into my back as I moved, radiating the unspoken pain that their owner was feeling. Fighting the urge to look back, I continued to move, making my way out of the house and down the drive towards the road beyond."Where go?" Kayden asked, peeking over my shoulder. "Wait, daddy!""Good boy, Kayden." I murmured, fighting back the tears that wanted to escape. "Daddy will come later.""No," Kayden argued, "he come now."Confusion began to claw at me as I turned to find Travis bursting out of the house and jumping off the balcony, so he landed on the lawn beyond. Keeping his determined gaze fixed on me, he began to quickly close the distance between us until he was so close to me that I could hear the sound of his heart pounding in his chest."Didn’t I say…""No," Travis growled, wrapping his arms around my waist. "You can say that you want to be alone all you want, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to listen to you.""But.""No buts," he continued. "I made t
[Marissa’s POV]We continued to run until I could just make out the portal that would take us back to our world. Just as Thomas had intended, we managed to escape, but was it really something to be relieved about?"That…" Ace huffed as we stopped at our exit. "How could someone...""Ace," Travis warned, stopping him before he could say anything more. "Not the time."As he scolded his delta, I could feel his eyes on the back of my neck. Since stopping, I couldn’t focus on anything except for Thomas’ figure slamming into a fully ablaze wendigo.How could he do something so reckless? We could have figured out a way to escape without that!"Hey."Tensing, I slowly turned my attention to Kim, who was standing beside me with an unreadable look on her heart-shaped face."Hm?""We aren’t just going to leave him, right?"Not leave him… No, I didn’t like the sound of that. We all came here together to try to eliminate a threat, and we should all be going home together. But as of now, we don’t k
[Marissa’s POV]I did my best to stay ahead of Travis so that he wouldn’t see the look of worry that I was sure was showing on my face. Though I had promised not to get myself killed, I didn’t quite know what would happen during this upcoming battle, and I was making a promise I had no control over."Hey!"Gasping, I found myself being tugged backwards as Travis’ arm wrapped around my waist, sending tingles of delight through me."What’s up with the avoidance?""Nothing," I responded, keeping my gaze fixed on those ahead of me. "I’m doing no such thing.""Try that on someone who doesn’t know better."Huffing, I looked at our group, which was clearly oblivious to mine and Travis’ back and forth, before wriggling around to meet Travis’ worried gaze. Immediately, I felt my heart clench and regretted my actions, but I was trying to be realistic."Tomorrow isn’t promised."It was the easiest way to describe exactly what I was feeling. No matter how hard we fought, we couldn’t change what w
[Travis’ POV]I watched in horror as Kim and Marissa grabbed hands and leapt forward, disappearing beyond the ledge of the cliff. What the hell did they think they were doing? Were they trying to bring about their own deaths?Cursing, I rushed forward, preparing to jump too, but stopped as Thomas’ arm wrapped around me."Let go!" I growled, unable to control my raging emotions. "I can’t just...""Use your eyes, asshole," Thomas huffed, nodding towards the abyss below. "One wrong leap and your ass is done, can’t you see it?"See it? What the fuck was he talking about?Peering down, I took in the empty space below. There was no sign of Marissa and Kim, nor were there any signs of the damned wendigos that we were hunting. Where the fuck did they all go?"Do you see any human pancakes down there?" Thomas continued, acting smug. "That means that there is something that we are missing, but Marissa and Kim managed to find."Trying to calm my emotions, I began to search the area, trying to fi
[Marissa’s POV]"How much longer are we going to sit here?" I grumbled, shifting positions for the fourth time since arriving. "I can't feel my ass anymore."After convincing Travis to allow me to accompany him on his wendigo hunt, we wasted no time in heading out. With Thomas leading the way due to his tracker background, we made our way deep into the woods until we arrived at a spot that radiated a good amount of wendigo energy.By Thomas’ assumption, this was a spot that they frequented, and the chances of us finding one here were pretty good. We could only hope that this evening they would be out and about. Otherwise, we would have to retrace our steps again and again until we found them.Hoping for the best, we set up camp downwind on the limbs of a tree above to wait."You didn’t have to come," Travis points out, giving me a smirk. "But once we’ve done what we came here to do, I’ll massage your ass.""Who wants you to massage their ass?" I grumped, though the thought of him doin
[Travis’ POV]Later, I lay in bed with Marissa and Kayden curled up beside me. And as much as I would have loved to just stay where I was, I knew that there was still much to be done in order to achieve the future that both Marissa and I were hoping for.After finishing with Bex’s send off, everyone went their separate ways. Where Ken went with Max and Thomas back to his home to try to gather some supplies for his stay with my pack, Marissa, Kayden, and I came here to shower and then read Kayden a story.After he fell asleep, neither of us wanted to move out of fear of waking him, so we stayed, and soon Marissa drifted off as well. Based on the light shining in the room from the moon, I could only assume it was getting close to midnight and that it was time for me to make my move.Being cautious not to wake the sleeping duo beside me, I slowly climbed out of bed and made my way across the room."I’ll be back soon," I whispered, shooting Marissa and Kayden one more glance before headin
[Travis’s POV]I let my gaze slowly take in all that were gathered before me. All those present were the ones I trusted the most. I was sure there were more rats among my pack, but finding them would have to wait until I dealt with their leader."Welcome," I announced, bringing the meeting to attention. "I’m sure most of you are curious about why I called you here today."Growing quiet, I waited as murmurs began to sound around the table. Most were speculations about what today’s topic would be. Once it died down again, I sucked in a breath and prepared to continue."I’m sure most of you remember the attack on the packhouse two years ago." I began, earning myself a look of shock and confusion from Marissa. Shit, I forgot that she was already gone by the time it happened. It seemed I would have to explain everything to her later. "At the time, I couldn’t place blame on any particular individual because I didn’t have enough evidence."Growing quiet once more, I gathered my thoughts, pre
[Marissa’s POV]Later that day, I walked slowly towards where I had left my father, with Travis’s hand wrapped tightly around mine. Embarrassment flowed through me over what happened between the two of us, and I found myself becoming self-conscious about what others would say when they saw the fresh mark on my neck.As if the universe were helping me along, Kim popped out from around a corner and rushed forward, a look of relief forming on her face."Where have you…" she began, but stopped as soon as her eyes came to rest on my neck. "Oh!" She giggled. "I guess I don’t need to ask after all."Blushing ferociously, I lifted my fingers to my still-tender neck. Fuck, this was about as bad as walking around pregnant. It just screamed that I just had sex, especially since most wolves make it a habit to mark each other during intimacy."Why were you looking for her?" Travis asked, drawing Kim’s knowing eyes away from me. "You seemed to be in a hurry; was it important?""Her father wanted to
[Marissa’s POV]My heart beat a mile a minute as Travis opened his mouth and extended his canines. Despite being scared shitless about this whole thing, I wasn’t about to back down. This was what I wanted. He was what I wanted and I had already wasted enough of our time.Leaning forward, Travis let his teeth glide against my skin while suddenly wrapping his arms around me."W-what are you doing?" I gasped when one of his hands slid down between my legs. "How is this marking?""You’re too tense." Travis explained, sliding his fingers between my folds and beginning to gently rub. "Loosen up, otherwise you will only remember this as something painful instead of what it actually is."Whimpering, I nodded while Travis pulled me closer to him so my back was against his chest. While his fingers continued to slowly work me, his other hand found my breast. Sliding my nipple between his fingers, he began to knead and tweak."Oh…goddess," I moaned, letting my eyes flutter closed. "That feels so
[Travis’s POV]I sat quietly as Marissa let out all the emotions she was feeling. It killed me to see her like that and know that there was literally nothing I could do.In a way, I understood how she felt since I lost my mother too, but I was so much younger than her and didn’t have the opportunity to spend as much time with her as she did."Travis," Marissa murmured, tightening her hold on me."What is it?" I asked."I want you."Confusion rolled through me as I felt the desire that was beginning to build up in her. However, I couldn’t find it in me to refuse her request. If anything, this was an act of desperation to forget what was happening, and who was I to deny her?Nodding, I quickly scooped her into my arms and made my way towards our room, all the while ignoring the curious gazes that were burning holes in my back.Once we were inside, I locked the door and made my way towards the bedroom, only stopping long enough to kick off my shoes."Are you sure about this?" I asked aft